Magdalena Abakanowicz
Magdalena Abakanowicz ( Raszyn -Falenty, June 20 1930 ) is a Polish sculptor and textile artist. Content [ hide ] *1 Life *2 Her work *3 Photo Gallery *4 External links Lifespan [ edit ] Marta Abakanowicz (this was her birth name, not until 1950 that it has changed Magdalene) was born in a small village near Warsaw . Her parents were of aristocratic descent, they get drunk large tracts of land and were very prosperous. The history of the family of her father goes way back to Mongolia in the time of Genghis Khan, the 13th century. A descendant of this powerful family, was named Abaka Khan, the name later developed into Abakanowicz. During the Russian Revolution in 1917, almost all members of the family were killed Abakanowicz. Two of them, Konstantyn, the father of Magdalena and his brother fled the carnage and settled in Poland, the land of their mother. The mother of Magdalena, Helena Domaszowska also came from a wealthy family. Until the 18th century, this family had ties with the Polish kings. Magdalena was mainly raised by the maids, she did not have such a strong bond with her parents. Her mother was disappointed that she had brought instead of a boy, who would inherit the family property, and with a firm hand would lead a girl. World The social status of her parents Magdalena did not go to regular school, and she had no contact with other children her age. Isolated from the outside world, they spent a lot of time alone on the estate of her parents. She was fascinated by the nature that surrounded her. In the Polish countryside nature was always a source for all kinds of superstition and mystical stories. Although her parents were not superstitious, Magdalena had collected these stories anyway, what her fascination for nature only increased. Abakanowicz later described her childhood and her fascination with nature in a very poetic way 'Portrait x 20'. "Best when no one saw me. I got up when the light came through the shutters. Beyond the park, near the marshes, the grass Reached my face. I know each blade. "" Between the ponds and the pine grove was a fallow field. Sandy, white, overgrown with clumps of dry, stiff grass. It looked strange. The tips of each clump converged, forming a kind of tent. The whole wide area looked as if it were covered by minute bristling cones. No one ever changed anything there. Everyone knew it Should be left alone. "They live in the grass, it was said." "The country was full of strange powers. Apparitions and inexplicable forces had Their laws and spaces. I remember 'Poludnice' and 'Zytnie Baby. " Whether I had ever seen them, I can not say, in the hamlet peasant women talked about them. There werealso some who know how to bring about illness or induce elflock. "When Magdalena was six years old she was taught by a private tutor. However, it was not a success. "When I was six, I was given a teacher. A stranger. I was used to strangers only from a distance. They made me uneasy. "Her interests went out into nature instead of textbooks.Her parents respected that and forced her not to learn. As a result, Magdalena had much time to further explore the forests. This fairytale childhood was brutally interrupted in September 1939 when German troops invaded Poland. Magdalena was nine years old. Although the first years of the occupation Falenty still spared from the massacres, the tension in the countryside was still higher. The forest wed Magdalena prohibited area because it had become a shelter for refugees and partisans, but now also for violent gangs. Her father taught her to shoot. One night in 1943 a drunken man penetrated their house and started shooting. Her mother She survived, but lost an arm. Magdalena kept her mother and she thought she was going to work. Later as a nurse In 1944, the situation was really elusive. The front line was approaching from the east. Fearing the violence of war, but also for fear of the Russians, the family fled headlong to Warsaw. That turned out not to be. A wise decision Warsaw seemed to have changed. During the last years of the war in hell On August 1, 1944 broke a bloody uprising against the German occupiers. Germany responded to it with "Verbrennungs-command" whose task was to make. Quite Warsaw to the ground During a raid, the mother of Magdalena lost in the crowd. She loved her family, emaciated, after two months back in Milanówek, a small village next to Warsaw. Magdalena was 14 years. She worked in a school that was turned into a makeshift hospital, as an auxiliary nurse.Every day there were new casualties brought inside. "Too many damaged people. A crowd. " After the liberation in 1945, Poland became a satellite state of Russia, communism was introduced. Aristocrats were seen as enemies of the state. All the possession of the family was so Abakanowicz confiscated by the state and distributed among the farmers. To escape persecution, the family resort in Toczew, was looking for a small village next to Gdansk, where no one was aware of their origins. They lived in poverty, the children went to school. When Magdalena was 19 she began her studies at the Art Academy in Sopot. She studied painting and textiles. A year later, in 1950, she decided to start her life. On new That's when she turned to her old name Marta Magdalena. She sold her winter coat to pay. Trip to the capital She was accepted at the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw. Life in Warsaw was not easy. While Western European countries flourished through the Marshall Plan, Eastern Europe lagged behind, reconstruction proceeded slowly. Magdalena stayed in dormitories, where sometimes 16 students slept in one room, and even there they could not always justified. She earned money with odd jobs, such as street sweeping and give blood, and survived on free soup at the academy. Her paintings she often worked at night school. Magdalena said to have done. Reluctantly her studies She felt cramped in the then prevailing social realist culture, she found that herartistic freedom restricted. But Abakanowicz continued her studies so she could join the Polish association for visual artists. After graduating That time was the prerequisite to work as an artist. Immediately after graduating, she got her first job as a designer at a silk factory in Milanówek. In her free time, she continued her painting she also got a room at the academy, where they independently could paint at night. On the advice of a teacher, she participated in a design competition for Cepelia. She won a prize and its design was put into production. In 1956 Magdalena married the engineer Jan Kosmowski. In 1960 her first solo exhibition took place in 'Kordegarda', Warsaw. This was canceled at the last moment, because the director did not allow to set. Abstract painting exhibit It was still the era of social realism. Although there is no official exhibition has taken place it is seen as Abakanowicz first exhibition. The great merit of this exhibition is that it was noticed by Maria Laszkiewicz, a professional weaver, who happened to look through an open window. She was impressed by Abakanowicz's work, wrote her as a candidate for the "Biennale Internationale de la Tapisserie in Lausanne. Magdalena came through the selections, and she threw herself entirely to this project. Maria Laszkiewicz presented her basement and her loom large (2 meter) available for Magdalena's work. "According to the rules of the International Biennale size of the tapestry had at least 12 square meters. I could weave something great? The room I shared with my husband was 12 square meters. Maria Laszkiewicz was my mentor and my friend. The basement was dark, damp and without heating. I was obsessed with work. I had no experience, so I did not really know how to proceed. I used clotheslines. My colleagues came and were shocked. 'Polish weavings would be dishonored. "-. They said' Magdalena eventually exhibited with 'Composition of White Forms', it was a success. Thus began Magdalena's career as a textile artist. Since then she has devoted her life to art. She has had exhibitions worldwide and has received many awards before. Magdalena has no children. Maybe she could practically spend every day in her work thus.She was from 1965 to 1988, a small studio in her apartment on the tenth floor of a flat in Warsaw. The series 'Alter Nations' came in the studio to create. Magdalena worked since 1964 with her assistant Stefania Zgudka. Outside making her artwork Abakanowicz is busy with the whole organization around her art. They arrange themselves all exhibits and always focuses they themselves.Even in 1982, when Poland a state of emergency was declared and the borders were closed, she got permission to go to set. Their exhibitions abroad Furthermore, she spends a lot of time on her correspondence. Magdalena has a lot about herself and her work written in her letters to third parties. She has also made a number of short films. She has taught at the Art Academy in Poznan from 1965, in 1974 she was promoted to professor at the academy. Her husband committed a lot in her work. He is often at Magdalena in solving technical problems around her pictures and he sometimes served as a model for her work. He also has an extensive bibliography kept on the work of his wife. In 1988, Abakanowicz moved with her husband to a house with a spacious studio. She is still active as an artist. Her work [ edit ] Magdalena Abakanowicz established in the sixties international interest in itself with its large gouaches on canvas. Mid seventies took her work a dramatic turn when she began heads, bodies, animals and birds from materials like sisal ,jute and resin manufacture. This was usually found materials such as rope and jute, which she found especially in ports and then literally down to the wire uitploos. Soon became characteristic of her entire oeuvre. The thus created series "Abakans" leap above it. In the late eighties and in the nineties Abakanowicz began to use her sculptures, such as metal bronze , as well as wood, stone and clay. Examples of her new works were: Bronze Crowd (1990-91) and Puellae (1992). Magdalena Abakanowicz taught as a professor from 1965 to 1990 at the University of the Arts in Poznan in Poland. Moreover, it was in 1984, visiting professor at the University of California - Los Angeles in the United States . She lives and works in Warsaw. Category:1930 births